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Castaways and Comets! It’s the new issue of Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos…

By John Freeman on October 8, 2010

The latest bumper issue of Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos – a magazine devoted to Syd Jordan’s space explorer, whose daily newspaper strip once ran in the Daily Express – is now available from the Jeff Hawke Club.

Volume 6 Number 2 is a 120-page issue that includes three complete stories – ‘The Castaway’, in which an alien crashlands in Canada and his arrival causes havoc; ‘The Wondrous Lamp’, in which Earth faces a potentially alien invasion, but the danger comes in a small package; and ‘The Comet’s Tale’, pitting space ace Hawke against his arch-nemesis, Chalcedon, whose actions to save Earth prove, of course, not entirely altruistic.

It’s a brave creator that agrees to have his work deconstructed alongside its reprinting, but as ever, Duncan Lunan provides fascinating commentaries on all three stories, often questioning the science in stories but, we thinks, never the storytelling, which has made Jeff Hawke such a memorable newspaper strip, which featured in the Express between 1955 and 1974.

Each issue of Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos offers three entire strips with articles relating to each story, plus features covering astronomy, aviation, science fiction and comic strip heroes from the 20th century.

If that isn’t enough, Sydney Jordan, creator of Jeff Hawke also adds his personal views and comments in each issue. It’s a great package.

• Jeff Hawke’s Cosmos is on sale now by subscription, which costs £20 per year for three issues. Subscriptions can be sent to The Jeff Hawke Club, 6 The Close, Alwoodley, Leeds LS17 7RD, United Kingdom. Web: www.jeffhawkeclub.com

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.